Mother Jailed for 6 Years after Poisoning daughter with cancer drugs ‘to get attention’

Based on the title alone, you probably already hate this woman. And you should.

A 23-year-old Australian mother who cannot be named publicly for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in October to grievous bodily harm after she repeatedly gave her daughter drugs that she bought over the internet for 10 months.

The so called ‘cancer drugs’ didn’t give her daughter cancer, but made her seriously ill. She was hospitalized with a life-threatening illness and spent long periods of time in the hospital.

The woman wrote about her child’s “fight for life” on a Facebook page, which, of course, garnered a lot of attention and support for the woman. Strangers were even donating small amounts of money to pay for medical treatment.

The woman’s lawyer says that she suffers from a rare mental condition called factitious disorder by proxy. This disorder is where someone intentionally lies, or exaggerates symptoms.

A psychiatrist said in court that he did not diagnose the woman as mentally ill.

The woman also diagnosed herself as suffering from bowel cancer, and went out of her way to fake symptoms in order to have her healthy appendix removed.

The woman has been in custody for a year, and will be eligible for parole in April of next year.

The young girl is said to be healthy, and is living with her grandmother.